Tereska Szwarc,
3rd September, 1920
As squeaky-voiced incel buffoon, Ben Shapiro has clearly established via a complicated academic process of ‘making shit up as he goes along’, for which he is paid an alarming amount of money, women exist purely for men to have somewhere to put their penis. In a recent episode of his swivel-eyed podcast, Andrew Klavan opined that the central purpose of every society is to figure out the distribution of women, which must have come as some surprise to women who weren’t aware that their purpose was to be handed around like sweets at a birthday party, making sure that everyone got one, and also to those members of society who didn’t want a woman handed to them for any reason whatsoever. He later doubled down on this nonsense by claiming that there should be ‘one woman for every person’, thereby letting the cat out of the bigotry bag. He didn’t count women among those he considered ‘people’. Men are people. Women are the reward they get for being people.
So, it must have come as some surprise to these sorts when in the 1960s, they suddenly discovered that women like sex, too, which was obviously a communist plot to destabilise the Western world given that they weren’t even allowed to have their own fucking bank account at that time.
The Ben Shapiros of the world still insist that the female orgasm is a myth because they’ve never seen a woman have one, which is telling on themselves in utterly spectacular style.
Meanwhile, women have happily spent the past 300,000 years of human existence merrily enjoying all the fucking they can get. That Ben Shapiro and Andrew Klavan don’t get to see them enjoying it is entirely because they are Ben Shapiro and Andrew Klavan. This is why they are weird.
So it should come as no surprise that when Women's Barracks: The Frank Autobiography of a French Girl Soldier by French writer Tereska Torrès was first published in 1950, it was aimed mainly at the male titillation market and it comes as no surprise that the people who actually brought it in droves, turning it into one of the first paperback original bestseller and the first lesbian pulp fiction book, were women. It sold in the millions. It also comes as no shock that when men discovered that women were enjoying this absolute filth, they tried to ban it.
Tereska Torrès, born on September 3, 1920, in Paris, France, was a French author whose life was marked by the turbulence of the 20th century, particularly the events of World War II. Torrès was born into a culturally rich environment, as her father, Marek Szwarc, was a well-known Polish-Jewish painter, and her mother, Guina Pinkus, was a French artist. This artistic and intellectual upbringing instilled in her a deep appreciation for the arts and literature from an early age.
As the clouds of war gathered over Europe, the Nazi invasion of France in 1940 forced Torrès and her family to flee Paris. At the tender age of 19, she made the courageous decision to join the Free French Forces, becoming one of the first women to enlist under the command of General Charles de Gaulle. This decision would not only shape the course of her life but also provide the foundation for her most famous literary work.
During the war, Torrès was stationed in London, where she worked as a secretary and translator for the Free French Forces. Her experiences during these years, surrounded by other women who had similarly left their homes to contribute to the war effort, profoundly impacted her worldview. It was a time of intense emotional and physical strain, but also of deep camaraderie and solidarity among the women in the barracks. These experiences, often marked by the struggles and intimate relationships between the women, would later be immortalized in her novel Women's Barracks.
After the war, Torrès settled in New York, where she began her writing career. Her marriage to the American writer Meyer Levin in 1948 was another significant influence on her literary life. Levin, known for his novel Compulsion and his work on the diary of Anne Frank, provided Torrès with a supportive and stimulating intellectual environment. The couple collaborated on various literary projects, and Levin encouraged Torrès to write about her wartime experiences, which ultimately led to the creation of Women's Barracks.
Women's Barracks, published in 1950, was initially intended as a memoir but evolved into a novel. The book drew heavily from Torrès' own experiences during the war, offering a vivid portrayal of life in a female military barracks. It was groundbreaking for its time, as it delved into the complexities of female relationships, including same-sex relationships, with a frankness that was rare in literature, especially coming from a female author in the conservative post-war era.
The publication of Women's Barracks was met with both acclaim and controversy. The novel became an instant bestseller, particularly in the United States, where it sold over a million copies and became the first paperback original to reach such a milestone. Its success was due in large part to its candid exploration of themes that were largely taboo at the time. Torrès wrote with an authenticity that resonated with readers, many of whom had never encountered such open discussions of female sexuality and the intimate lives of women.
However, the novel's success also attracted the attention of conservative and religious groups, who were outraged by its content. The book was labeled as "immoral" and "obscene," and it quickly became the target of censorship efforts. The most significant of these came in 1952 when Women's Barracks was cited during hearings held by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. The subcommittee was investigating the impact of "pulp fiction" on American youth, and Women's Barracks was singled out as an example of literature that was believed to be contributing to the perceived decline in moral standards.
The novel was described as a corrupting influence, particularly for its portrayal of lesbian relationships, which were seen as a threat to the social order. As a result, the book was banned in several states, including Massachusetts and Illinois, and efforts were made to restrict its distribution. However, these attempts at censorship only served to heighten the book's allure. For many readers, the fact that the novel had been banned made it even more intriguing, and its sales continued to soar.
Beyond its commercial success, Women's Barracks had a profound impact on the literary landscape. The novel is often credited with helping to establish the genre of lesbian pulp fiction, a category of literature that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s and provided some of the earliest representations of lesbian life in popular culture. Unlike many other books in this genre, which were often written by men and portrayed lesbian relationships in a sensationalized or tragic manner, Women's Barracks was unique in its authenticity and empathy, reflecting Torrès' own experiences and observations.
The influence of Women's Barracks extended beyond literature. The novel played a role in shaping the discourse around sexuality and censorship in the mid-20th century. It challenged the prevailing norms that dictated what was considered acceptable in literature and forced society to confront the realities of women's lives, including the existence of same-sex relationships. In this way, the novel contributed to the gradual shift in attitudes toward homosexuality and helped to pave the way for the LGBTQ+ rights movement that would gain momentum in the following decades.
In France, Torrès' homeland, the reception of Women's Barracks was less sensational but no less significant. The novel was initially published in French as Une Française Libre (A Free Frenchwoman), and while it did not provoke the same level of controversy as it did in the United States, it was nonetheless recognized as a groundbreaking work. The book resonated with French readers who had lived through the war and who appreciated Torrès' honest portrayal of the challenges and sacrifices faced by women in the Free French Forces.
Torrès continued to write throughout her life, authoring several more novels and memoirs, many of which explored themes of war, identity, and the female experience. However, none of her subsequent works achieved the same level of notoriety or impact as Women's Barracks. Despite this, Torrès remained proud of the novel, viewing it as a truthful reflection of her experiences and those of her fellow female soldiers.
In her later years, Torrès lived in Paris with her husband, Meyer Levin. The couple shared a deep intellectual and emotional connection, and Levin remained a steadfast supporter of Torrès' work, despite the controversies that often surrounded it. Torrès continued to be involved in the literary community, and she remained an active voice in discussions about literature and censorship until her death.
Tereska Torrès passed away on September 20, 2012, at the age of 92. Her death marked the end of a life that had been shaped by war, love, and literature, but her legacy endures. In the years since her death, her work has continued to be studied and appreciated for its groundbreaking portrayal of women and its contribution to the LGBTQ+ literary canon. Women's Barracks remains a seminal work, not only for its historical significance but also for its enduring relevance in discussions about gender, sexuality, and the role of women in wartime.
Torrès' life and work are a reminder of the power of literature to challenge societal norms and to give voice to those who have been marginalized. Her willingness to confront difficult topics and to write with honesty and integrity ensured that her work would not only endure but also inspire future generations of writers and readers. Tereska Torrès may have been a reluctant pioneer, but her impact on the literary world is undeniable. Her legacy as a writer who dared to explore the complexities of human relationships, particularly those between women, has secured her a place in the annals of literary history.
In reflecting on her contributions, it's clear that Torrès' influence extends beyond her most famous work. She was a trailblazer who helped to open doors for future generations of LGBTQ+ writers and readers. Her work challenged the status quo and provided representation at a time when it was sorely lacking. Today, as discussions about gender, sexuality, and censorship continue to evolve, Torrès' work remains as relevant as ever, reminding us of the importance of diversity in literature and the need to tell stories that reflect the full spectrum of human experience.